An Autumn Afternoon
by Roxie Faye
Summary: Schuldig does the right thing for once. Drabble. Warnings: Completely OOC Schuldig, sap, Aya-chan.


A/N Backstory: This drabble is a scene taken from a Ken/Crawford fic I'm writing that will never see the light of day. Ken teams up with Crawford and Schuldig (to fight the evil Estet!) instead of seeking out Aya as explained in Side B. At this juncture in the story, the three of them have stopped by in London for both business and social reasons. Aya is working with the rest of the SideB members, and Aya-chan is doing her university studies in London (she's 23 here). At another point in the story, it is explained that Schuldig spent one year of her coma putting Aya-chan's mind back together, and getting to know each other in the process. This scene departs from the Ken/Crawford dynamic to explore that of Schuldig and Aya-chan's.

Disclaimer: Koyasu Takehito, Project Weiss, and a whole lot of other people own Weiss Kreuz. I do not!!! (Sadly)

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An Autumn Afternoon

"If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. And if they don't, they never were." - Khalil Graban

It was a cool autumn afternoon, and he knew she had just gotten out of her last class of the day. He watched her walk along the pathways surrounded by green that lead to and from the academic buildings, carrying her books and chatting amiably with a friend.

He was leaning casually against one of the white marble buildings, only here to see Aya upon her request. She had somehow managed to find out from her brother that Ken – and by extension these days, Crawford and he – were in town for a short while, and asked him to come visit. However reluctant he was, he could not find it within himself to say no to her.

He had made a change from his usual attire, dressed today in a fitted black trench coat and leather gloves, a coral dress shirt peeking from beneath the coat. Even so, Schuldig was easily recognizable to Aya, his hair still long, silky and orange; his glittering blue eyes filled with mischievousness even now, but today with an added expression of contemplation.

"Schuldig!" her own eyes alight, she rushed up to embrace him. He bowed and kissed her hand gently in return.

"Ahm," Aya's brunette friend interrupted gently, "Aya, will I see you later, then?"

Before she could reply, Schuldig interjected, "There's no need, Miss. Aya and I will just be a few minutes here, if you'd like to wait by the tree over there," he gestured to a spot. The girl obliged, politely walking out of hearing range.

At his words, Aya looked put out. She was hoping on a longer time together. "Schuldig..." she began.

"_Don't_, Aya," he whispered. "We've been through this before."

"I don't get it: I like you. You like me (I think). What's so hard about getting together?" she said with frustration.

He sighed, exasperated already. "It's not that simple. In the first place, I'm continent-hopping through Europe, Africa, and the States, doing dangerous work. There isn't time at the moment. Even if there were, you're too young right now—" he quickly grasped her hand so she would not run from what he had to say. "That doesn't mean I don't adore you, but you're too young right now. You've had only two boyfriends of a few months so far in your life. That's not enough experience to know what you want—"

"But you know what I want. You can look inside my head and know what I want," she insisted, tugging on his arm.

"It's not that simple. I know what you 'want' now, but that might not be the best thing for you in the end. You need to date more to know that. And once you have that knowledge, your expectations and wants in another might change completely. You might find yourself wondering what you ever saw in me at all." Those last words felt like a lump in his throat. "You have to promise me you'll try to put me out of your mind, and give a few other guys out there a chance."

"I don't want to!"

'_I don't want you to, either,_' he said silently to himself. '_You're one of the few who have forgiven me after all the viciousness. You're one of the few I've actually ever cared about. You're the one person who has never judged me, one way or the other. You're the __only__ person now living who has never thought me guilty. You're everything I want, but I won't let you deprive yourself of life and love on my account. I hope you'll forgive me one day._'

He looked her in the eyes, "Promise me."

Her eyes were filled with sadness as she whispered, "I promise."

He smiled softly moving closer toward her face, "No tears, my dear. If it is meant to be it will be; if it isn't, it isn't." He ran his leather-clad fingers through her fine purple hair, the light glittering off each strand. Schuldig leaned in and kissed her sweetly on the forehead. He slowly turned from her, walking away from more than the marble buildings and the paved paths along the grass.


End file.
